OT -- 37 - 40 inch TVs

[soul survivor]

Ok gang -- need a recommendation for a 40 inch TV -- don't care about 3D, do care about sports and thus blur, do care about quality of picture and sound. Only respond if you own the TV you recommend.

[AngryScientist]

i own a high 30 (dont remember the exact size) LG LCD tv. love it. my washer and dryer are LG, the best cell phones i've ever owned were LG, my dvd player is LG, as well as the little tv in my office.

i've had nothing but excellent luck with LG products, i highly recommend them.

i dont know any model number or specs, which probably doesnt help you, but i bought mine over 4 years ago too. my only point is LG=good.

[Nooch]

i have a 37" vizio, which I love, with one caveat...

The refresh rate doesn't handle WWE programming very well (eh, I'm younger than most of you guys, it's a nice escape from reality) -- Fast flashing LED's on the displays and what not will end up a little pixelated.

Other than that, it serves my purposes very well.

[Ralph]

We have a 40" Samsung in a room. Fits the room. No complaints. 1080 etc. Great picture. I think picture quality has a lot to do with where you get the signal from, not just the TV. SInce there are only a couple screen makers in the world, and other components are kinda a commodity item, I don't see why there would be much difference in picture quality among makes, assuming you're comparing same price point TV's (features and benefits), and assuming you get a hi quality signal. Sound not so great from my model, but higher up models have better speakers, or I can just add some. Seems to me you sorta get what you pay for in the way of features.

[veloduffer]

We have 3 TVs: 37" Samsung, 32" Sony Bravia and 22" Vizio. All three look great and work well - have not had a blur issue and I watch hockey and basketball. I am not the most discerning TV viewer, so take my opinion with a grain (or bushel) of salt.

[bfd]

Ok gang -- need a recommendation for a 40 inch TV -- don't care about 3D, do care about sports and thus blur, do care about quality of picture and sound. Only respond if you own the TV you recommend.

Plasma. Darker blacks, fast (don't have to worry about refresh rates) and very reasonably priced (i.e., 42" Panasonic Plasmas range from $600-1000, depending on which model you like).

Further, *the tv* that all the testers like cnet use to measure against is the now defunct Pioneer Kuro Elite PLASMA. While extremely expensive (50" was $4500 when it was discontinued), it had the deepest black of any tv.

Some will argue that plasmas eat more juice, but today's plasmas are alot more efficient. For example, 42" LCD will use between $17-25 in power; same size plasma will cost you about $30. see cnet comparison here:

http://reviews.cnet.com/green-tech/tv-consumption-chart/

Bottom line, the bigger the tv, the more juice it uses.

Of course, I recommend the largest tv you can buy! :) Good Luck!

[Pete Serotta]

Dr. Video we use in Raleigh is excellent and SONY XBR is what my daughter received for Christmas.

There are other good ones but I go with the ones that the people I think are good service providers offer.

The other one I bought two years ago as a extra was from COSTCO. If you are going to set them up they have a wide selection and a very good return policy if you do not like it

[FlashUNC]

42" LG LED TV. Just picked it up a month or so ago. Love it. At 120hz handles sports just fine.

[RPS]

i own a high 30 (dont remember the exact size) LG LCD tv. love it. my washer and dryer are LG, the best cell phones i've ever owned were LG, my dvd player is LG, as well as the little tv in my office.


I purchased a mid-size LG and had opposite experience -- returned it next day. I bought it based on specs thinking it should have better picture, but it was disappointing. Replaced it with Samsung.

[SEABREEZE]

Tv's in that size come in at different price points

Adittionally do you want 120 hz or 240 hz

240HZ IS SUPERIOR FOR REFRESH RATE AND ACTION SPORTS


The link below will have you choose the best for your needs

http://reviews.cnet.com/televisions/?tag=hdr;snav

[mtb_frk]

I bought my parents a samsung LCD for xmas and it is a very nice tv. The picture quality is great. When our Sony dies, which will probably not be too long, I am going to get a samsung.

[Peter P.]

Sorry, I don't own a TV so I can't give you advice on a specific brand/model.

What I CAN tell you is, since you're interested in sports and thus minimal "blur", then the spec you should be concerned with is not just the resolution in the number of scan lines such as 720 or 1080, but the LETTER after that number.

The letter, "i" for interlaced, or "p" for progressive, represents how the picture is constructed on the screen. You can look up the background if you want, but suffice it to say that progressive scan screens are better for scenes with lots of movement, including sports.

So look for a TV that produces a 720p or 1080p picture for the best in sports.

[rice rocket]

240HZ IS SUPERIOR FOR REFRESH RATE AND ACTION SPORTS



Disagree. The broadcast is in 60 Hz, as long as it's a multiple of 60, you won't notice a difference. The problem has been w/ Blu-ray, when people watch moves in 1080p/24 on a 60 Hz TV, and which means for every 2 frames, one gets dropped.

[54ny77]

I've heard that 60 hurts, but I've gots me a few more years before getting there.

Can't imagine what 120 would be like.... :banana:

[Chad Engle]

Samsung. Buy it and be happy.

[bikinchris]

I am watching the NCAA tournament on a 42 inch Sharp LCD tv in the living room. The newer model in 46 inch size and quad pixels is in my bedroom. But thats' because the 46 inch won't fit in the living room. Sears was the only place I could find a Sharp TV and the smallest they have is the 46 inch:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_05771251000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=L1

This model has colors, black level and contrast ratio comparable to plasma, but takes less power to run.
You need to go look at one side by side with other TV's and see what it looks like.

Your signal quality will make a difference in the picture quality. Most cable systems don't and can't broadcast in full HD. Check out your system. I use DirecTv and most of the channels are 1080i and broadcasts like the superbowl are in 1080p. I also use an antenna in my attic to catch every local broadcast out to about 100 miles away, which offers a good choice of network tv sports.

Also, whichever TV you wind up with, DON'T put the box out at the street for trash or better yet, recycling pickup. That's a sign saying "steal me" to crooks. Cut up the box and put the pieces folded with the TV details not showing over a few pickup times.

[johnnymossville]

i have a 37" vizio, which I love, with one caveat...

The refresh rate doesn't handle WWE programming very well (eh, I'm younger than most of you guys, it's a nice escape from reality) -- Fast flashing LED's on the displays and what not will end up a little pixelated.

Other than that, it serves my purposes very well.

Hey My Grandfather watched WWE well into his 80's. He loved that stuff.

[jghall]

A lot of good choices out there. Some of it may depend on your environment.

Without trying to stereotype, lcd's are a bit brighter and may work better in a washed out room or one where light from a window shines directly on the tv. Plasma typically has better blacks and generally does not suffer from motion that some lcd's may. Though the picture may be a bit darker in nature.

Personally I prefer plasma.

While you can find some deals, I'd stick with name brand stuff. Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, etc.

If you are lucky enough to have a Fry's close, you can pick up an excellent tv for right at $400. Around here, they periodically have Panny and Sammy 42" plasma's for $399.

[Dlevy05]

Let's recap...240HZ, 1080p, and get an LED - if you follow those criteria you should be happy with your purchase for a while to come.

[benb]

You must have to be really really sensitive to be able to see a frame dropped in a blue ray on a 60hz TV. Last time I read about it I thought no frames were dropped and it instead had to do with how many refreshes each frame of the video was displayed. This is such a difficult thing to see it's almost like the TV manufacturers just came out with it to sell new TVs.

The real thing that makes pictures get blurry is the LCDs response time. These have been uniformly fine across the board for several years now. (Try and old PC LCD from the 1990s sometime and you will see what a poor response time looks like.)

To display the picture:

- Video source outputs picture (likely to be 24, 30, 60 frames per second - This is the frame rate)
- TV updates it's internal buffer
- Nothing happens till the LCDs refresh cycle begins (Happens at 60/120/240hz - This is the refresh rate)
- LCD panel updates each pixel during refresh
- Some short time later the individual pixel actually changes it's color (response time)

All that is happening with the new TVs with faster refresh rates is they paint each frame on blue rays, etc.. an equal number of times.

On 60hz TV a Blue Ray shows odd frames for 50ms and even frames for 33ms.. the 120/240hz TVs can show every frame for 42ms...

Can you see 12ms reliably? Survey says no.. save the money if you aren't a videophile.

LED backlight? Totally different story. Not going to make me buy a new TV but I think you'd have to be nuts to get a TV without an LED backlight at this point due to the power savings and more even illumination.

[soul survivor]

Appreciate all the ideas!

Soul

[rice rocket]

You must have to be really really sensitive to be able to see a frame dropped in a blue ray on a 60hz TV. Last time I read about it I thought no frames were dropped and it instead had to do with how many refreshes each frame of the video was displayed. This is such a difficult thing to see it's almost like the TV manufacturers just came out with it to sell new TVs.


It's pretty obvious in full screen slow panning. But that's about the only time. The frame drop is in the input processing, not in the actual display (it's always displaying 60 fps). You'll generally see it as juddering in what should be a smooth pan.

Minor annoyance for something that occurs <1% of your viewing time, but if the premium for 120Hz over 60Hz isn't much, you might as well pony up the extra to "fix" that problem. iirc, a lot of the newer 60Hz LCD TVs also can output 24p natively, which would also avert this issue.

[bfd]

Let's recap...240HZ, 1080p, and get an LED - if you follow those criteria you should be happy with your purchase for a while to come.

Or better yet, get a 1080p Plasma. Better blacks = better picture quality. You'll be very happy with your purchase :).... :crap: :beer: :butt: Good luck!

[amgc36]

+1 on plasma. Much better blacks and no problem with motion. If you have lots of light hitting the screen, you may want an LCD but not one with a glass cover that makes it look good (and thus reflects just like a plasma). Things to look for are the refresh rate and especially the dimming. Ideally LED based light source with local dimming i.e. 100s of LEDs throughout the panel, will improve the contrast during actual footage. I think Vizio makes an excellent TV in their higher end (which you can get at Costco) and Sony's top is not bad. Panasonic higher end TVs have a very high quality IPS LCD.

The crazy contrast ratios that marketing brochures tout assume that the light is at full blast, which would blow out highlight detail.

[Germany_chris]

37" Samsung hooked to my Bose 3-2-1. Perfect for the smaller living room. It's play HD soccer from RTL HD just fine no blurring I can detect.

[soul survivor]

Just read that OLED is coming out 31 inches within about 2 years -- I'm going to wait! Will blow away all the current plasmas and LCDs

[rice rocket]

Just read that OLED is coming out 31 inches within about 2 years -- I'm going to wait! Will blow away all the current plasmas and LCDs

For $10k. :rolleyes:

If you want to have affordable OLED, wait another 10 years.

[pjm]

Really like my Sony 40" EX500. In some ways I like it better than my much more expensive Sony NX810 (LED and 240hz). Nice bang for the buck in Sony's line-up. Not LED, but does have the 120hz refresh rate. Sound is suprisingly good. Remember, the thinner these sets get, the weaker the sound. Its an outgoing model too, so look for a good price.

[amgc36]

Sony is selling an 11" diagonal OLED right now - for $2500. It's out of stock and I'm curious to see whether it is replaced by something bigger and for the same price or less.

My last cell phone had an OLED screen and it was gorgeous; pity the navigation of the interface was a bit clunky esp. compared to my current phone.

[soul survivor]

For $10k. :rolleyes:

If you want to have affordable OLED, wait another 10 years.

I saw articles suggesting far lower prices -- but you may be right.

[rice rocket]

I have no data, I was purely speculating. But LCDs and plasmas were about that price when they came out; I don't see the OLED market evolving much differently.